Adjustable harness mechanism



- Jan.23, 1940.

g. D. snbm I 2,187,814

ADJUSTABLEIHARNESS uncmmxsm Filed July 19. 19:9

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR; 63424. [7. Been N.

A'ITORNE Y.

Jan. 23, 1940.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.

v INVENTOR. 5 C3464 0. 55:: w/v. ZYza 5 BY Z Z I 1 Z V ATTORNEY.

c. D; BROWN v 2,187,814

ADJUSTABLE HARNESS MECHANISM Filed July 19. 1939 Patented Jan. 23, .1940

PATENT OFFlC E.

ADJUSTABLE HARNESS MECHANISM.

Carl D. Brown, Hope dale, Mass, assignor' to Draper Corporation,Hopedal'e, Mass., a corporation of Maine Application July 19, 1939,Serial No. 285,223

9 Claims,

The present invention. pertains to cam and treadle harness mechanismsfor looms, andmore particularly relates to the'construction and ar--rangement of such mechanisms whereby the f. throw of the treadlesthereof is rendered adjustable.

Loomsof the type to which my invention applies commonly include harnessframes, harness treadles connected to the harness frames for operatingthe latter, harness cams for operating the treadles, and fulcrum meanson which the treadles pivot. It is highly desirable that the throw ofthe treadles be adjustable, to provide different shed openings withoutchanging the harness cams, Numerous constructions for this purpose havebeen proposed heretofore, butonly one such prior construction has provento, be at all practicalv and that construction is somewhat zmcreexpensive than is desired.

v It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention toprovide a loom having a harness frame, harness treadle and harness camasafcresaid, and simple, inexpensive fulcrum means arranged to permitadjustment of the throw of the treadle, which means shall comprisespaced fulcrum members arranged to each provide the fulcrum for thetreadleduring a different portion of each oscillationof the treadle, andwhich members shall be relatively, adjustable, for the purpose.aforesaid, as hereinafter described and claimed.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are,accomplished in theconstruction illustrated onthe accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of a loomhaving the preferred embodiment of my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a. view partlyinplan and partly, in section taken on line 2--2of Fig. 1, but with parts omitted;

r Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of the saidpreferred embodiment;

Fig; 4 is a diagrammatic view showing a modified form of the invention;and I t Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 but showing a furthermodified form of the invention. M

The loom shown on the drawings is provided with my novel adjustableharness mechanism, but is otherwise of conventional construction. Theloom is accordingly but fragmentarily illustrated; the. conventionalparts shown including only the right hand loom side l,, across girt 2,the-crank shaft 3, camshaft 4, and certain parts of, the harnessmechanism. The conventional parts of l the harness mechanism 'includethe harness frames 5 These frames are positioned one in front of theother and extend widthwise of the loom in substantially parallelvertical planes. The harness frames. are moved vertically to formtheshed opening, asis well known in the; art. To this end, the harnessframes may be connected to the forward'ends of harness treadles 6 (ofnovel construction) by any suitable usual connections such as straps l.

The treadles 6 extend forwardly and rear wardly of the loom,approximately horizontally, with their forward ends located belowtheharness frames 5. There is one treadle for each harness frame and theforward ends of the. treadles move vertically to move the harnessframes. The:-

vertical movement of the harness treadles is effected by the usualharness cams 8, therearward ends of the treadles being fulcrumed ashereinafterdescribed. The harness cams 8 "are fixed on a shaft 9 whichis locatedrearwardly of the planes of the harness frames and above thetreadles 6 intermediate the ends. of the latter. The shaft 9 is drivenfrom the cam shaft 4 as usual, the revolving cams I engaging rolls Hi onthe treadles.

The size of. the-shed opening formed by the" harness mechanism must varywith different weaving conditions and, to avoid changing the harnesscams, it is desirable that'the throw of the treadles be adjusted byother means. I .hav'e accordingly provided a novel and improved meansfor adjusting the fulcrum of the treadles.

, In accordance with the present invention, Iprovide twoseparate-fulcrum members located different distances from the harnesscams and arranged so that the treadle in each of its oscillationsalternately rocks on first. one of the fulcrum 1 members and then theother thereof, and one of. the fulcrum members is adjustable to vary athe throw of the treadle.

members shown consist of parallel bars II and 12 which extendtransversely. of all of thetreadles rearwardly from the harness cams 8.The bar H is fixed in brackets I3 on the girt 2 and is so located that,it engages a longitudinal surface The slots l5 are arcuate, with theircenters sub" stantially coinciding with the upper or fulcrum surface ofbar II. The ends of. the bar [2 are fixed in slots IS in the bracketsI3, which slots are curved. parallel to the arcuate slots. l5 so that 5540 g In. the'embodiment of Figs. 1-3, the fulcrum the bar may beadjusted along the arc of the slots. The bar i 2 is fixed in adjustedposition by nuts IT.

The fulcrum bars II and I2 are spaced apart longitudinally of thetreadles 6 and are spaced different distances from the harness cams 8.The bars are so arranged that when a harness treadle is up, as shown byFig. 3, the bar I2 is in engagement with the upper end of the slot 15and the surface i4 is above or out of engagement with the bar ll. Thus,in this position, the bar l2 engages and acts as the fulcrum for thetreadle. Then, as the treadle is forced down wardly the surface l4engages the fulcrum bar H and the extreme rearward end of the treadlemoves upwardly so that the upper end of slot I5 moves out of engagementwith the bar I2. In this latter position, the fulcrum bar H engages andacts as the fulcrum for the treadle and the bar l2 and slot l5 servesmerely to guide the treadle and prevent longitudinal movement thereof.

The effective length of the harness treadle, and therefore the throw oftreadle, is varied as the treadle engages first one and then the otherof the fulcrum bars, the total throw being the sum of the movement withbar l2 acting as the fulcrum plus the movement with bar i l acting asthe fulcrum. Adjusting the bar l2 transversely of the treadle alongslots l 6 varies the relative positions of the bars and the proportionof each oscillation of the treadle during which the bar l2 acts as thefulcrum, and will therefore vary the total throw of the treadle. Amongthe many advantages of this construction are simplicity and sturdinessof construction, ease of adjustment, and a decided reduction in forwardand backward movement of the harness frames. On this latter feature, itwill be noted that the forward end of the treadle moves along an arc thehorizontal component of which constitutes said forward and backwardmovement, but that this component is appreciably smaller in theconstruction shown than it would be if either fulcrum bar were omitted.

The embodiments shown by Figs. 4 and 5 include the same harness framesand strap connections as in the first embodiment above described and ashowing of these parts is accordingly not repeated. The harness treadlesof Figs. 4 and 5 are located the same as in the first embodiment and areoperated by the same harness cams 8 on shaft 9 and engaging rolls ill onthe treadles. The treadle i8, Fig. 4, has a longitudinal surface IS onthe lower edge of its extreme rearward portion, which surface is adaptedto engage a fulcrum member or bar 20 during a portion of eachoscillation of the treadle. This treadle also has an arcuate slot 2|receiving a fulcrum bar 22. The center of curvature of the slot 2|approximately coincides with the fulcrum surface of bar 20.

The fulcrum bars 20 and 22 are so arranged as to alternately engage andact as the fulcrum for the treadle l8, and the slot 2| guides thetreadle and prevents longitudinal movement thereof, all as in the aboveembodiment. In this embodiment, however, the bar 22 is fixed inpredetermined position and the bar 20 is made adjustable, Preferably,the bar 20 is adjustable horizontally, longitudinally of the treadlealong the surface I9, as indicated by dotted circles 29' and 20".Supporting brackets and adjusting means for fulcrum bars may be similarto the corresponding parts previously described except for obviousmodifications. Such brackets and adjusting means are accordingly notshown on Fig. 4.

In the embodiment shown on Fig. 5, a treadle 23 has a longitudinalsurface 24 on its lower edge engaging a fulcrum bar 25 and is providedat its rearward end with an arcuate slot 26 for receiving a fulcrum bar21. The treadle 23 is thus identical in every respect with the treadles6 above described. In the present instance, however, the bar 2'! isfixed in predetermined position and the bar 25 is adjustable verticallyas at 25 and 25". Obvious changes in the supporting brackets andadjusting means will likewise be required for this embodiment. Thelocation of the parts and operation of the mechanism are, of course,substantially the same as in the previous embodiments. The advantages ofthe embodiments of Figs. 4 and 5 are substantially the same as for theembodiment of Figs. 1-3 and need not be repeated.

Having fully disclosed the preferred embodiments of my invention, Iclaim:

1. In a loom, a harness frame, a harness treadle connected with saidharness frame for operating the latter, a harness cam for operating saidtreadle, spaced fulcrum members arranged to alternately act as thefulcrum for said treadle during each oscillation of the latter, andmeans for adjusting one of said fulcrum members relative to the other tothereby adjust the throw of 530 said treadle,

2. In a loom, a harness frame, a harness treadle, means connecting saidtreadle with said harness frame for operating the latter, a harness camfor operating said treadle, spaced fulcrum 5 members each arranged toengage and act as the fulcrum for said treadle during a differentportion of each oscillation of the treadle, and means for adjusting thethrow of said treadle, the last said means comprising means foradjusting the relative positions of said fulcrum members.

3. In a loom, a harness frame, a harness treadle, means connecting saidtreadle with said harness frame for operating the latter, a harness camfor operating said treadle, a fulcrum mem-" ber arranged to engage andact as the fulcrum for said treadle during only a. portion of eachoscillation of the treadle, a second fulcrum member spaced from thefirst said fulcrum member and arranged to engage and act as the fulcrumfor said treadle during the remaining portion of each said oscillationof the treadle, said fulcrum members being spaced different distancesfrom said cam, and means for adjusting one of said fulcrum membersrelative to said cam to thereby adjust the throw of said treadle.

4. In a loom, a harness frame, a harness treadle, means connecting saidtreadle with said harness frame for operating the latter, a harness camfor operating said treadle, a pair of fulcrum members spaced apartlongitudinally of said treadle, said fulcrum members and treadle beingso arranged that said treadle engages and rocks on first one and thenthe other of said fulcrum members during each oscillation of thetreadle, and means for adjusting the throw of said treadle, the lastsaid means comprising means supporting one of said fulcrum members foradjustment relative to the other of said members.

5. In a loom, a plurality of harness frames, a plurality of harnesstreadles extending forwardly and rearwardly of the loom with theirforward ends positioned beneath said harness frames, means connectingsaid forward ends of said treadles with said harness frames, harnesscams acting on said treadles intermediate their ends,

a pair of parallel fulcrum bars vextending transversely of said treadlesadjacent the rearward ends thereof, said fulcrum bars and treadles buingso arranged that said'treadles engage and rock on first one and then theother of said bars during each oscillation of the treadles, said barsbeing spaced different distances from said cam,

and means for adjusting one of said bars relative to the other thereofto thereby adjust the throw of said treadles.

6. In a loom, a substantially vertical harness frame, a harness treadleextending forwardly and rearwardly of the m with its forward end beneathsaid harness frame, means connecting the forward end of said treadlewith said harness frame, a harness cam acting on said treadleintermediate the ends thereof, a pair of parallel fulcrum bars extendingtransversely of said treadle adjacent the rearward end of the latter,said bars being spaced apart longitudinally of said treadle and beingarranged to each engage and act as the fulcrum for said treadle during adifferent por-- tion of each oscillation of the latter, and means foradjusting one of said bars longitudinally of the treadle to therebyadjust the throw of the treadle. v

7. In a loom, a substantially vertical harness frame, a harness treadleextending forwardly and rearwardly of the loom with its forward endbeneath said harness frame, means connecting the forward end of saidtreadle with said harness frame, a harness cam acting on said treadleintermediate the ends thereof, a fulcrum bar extending transversely ofsaid treadle adjacent the rearward end thereof and arranged to engageand act as the fulcrum for said treadle during only a portion of eachoscillation of the treadle, a second fulcrum bar parallel to but spacedlongitudinally of the treadle fromthe first said bar, said second barbeing arranged to engage and act as the fulcrum for said treadle duringthe remaining portion of each said oscillation, and means for adjustingone of said bars vertically to thereby adjust the throw of said treadle.

8. In a loom, a harness frame, a harness treadle connected with saidharness frame for operating the latter, a harness cam for operating saidtreadle, transverse fulcrum bars spaced apart longitudinally of thetreadle'and arranged to alternately act as the fulcrum for said treadleduring each oscillation of the latter, saidtreadle having an arcuateslot the center of which substantially coincides With one of said barsand the other of said bars extending through said slot to preventlongitudinal movement of the treadle, and means for adjusting one ofsaid bars relative to the other to thereby adjust the throw of saidtreadle.

9. In a loom, a substantially vertical harness frame, a harness treadleextending forwardly and rearwardly'of the loom and having its forwardend positioned beneath said harness frame, means connecting said forwardend with said harness frame, a harness cam acting on said treadleintermediate its ends, a fulcrum bar extending transversely of saidtreadle, said treadle having a longitudinal surface on its lower edgeadjacent its rearward end and said surface engaging said bar during aportion of each oscillation of the treadle, said treadle having anarcuate slot the center of which substantially coincides with saidfulcrum bar, a second fulcrum bar extending through said slot, saidsecond bar being parallel to the first said bar and being arranged toengage the upper end of said slot and thereby act as the fulcrum forsaid treadle during the remaining portion of each said oscillation, andmeans for adjusting one of said bars relative to the other thereof tothereby adjust the throw of said treadle.

CARL D. BROWN.

